Partners
by CharlieSwagron
Summary: This was originally just a one shot of if Riley had been shot in episode 4, but I've decided to change it to a bunch of random, most likely unconnected prompts. Each chapter will be different and if there's something you wish to see (so long as it's Riley and Gabriel), please feel free to message me or leave it through the review button
1. Partners

**Disclaimer: I don't own Intelligence or any of the characters.**

**A/N: This is just a one shot of what might have happened if Riley had gotten shot during the rescue mission for the CIA agents at the end of episode 4. My focus is obviously not on Emily and her mission of assassinating Susan Hawkins so I want everyone to pretend that that didn't exist.**

**A/N 2: Let me know if there are any prompts or anything that you want me to write about. I'm willing to do so as long as it's Gabriel and Riley as the center focus. **

He hit the ground hard with a loud thud as Riley tackled him behind the limo. Dust flew up into his face and some invaded his mouth and nose causing him to cough for air. The bullets stopped flying through the air as Agent Charlie Griffin took out the last of the Syrians and immediately helped Emily Tyner into the vehicle. The other CIA agent was already dead.

"You can get off me now, Riley," Gabriel told his partner. When she didn't move to stand up, he rolled her off of him and looked at her questioningly. She was sprawled out before him on the ground and what he saw nearly made him sick. A stray bullet had managed to lodge itself just under the edge of Riley's bulletproof vest. Two more were firmly stuck in the vest, one over her right ribs and another directly in the center of her chest. She was gasping and struggling to breathe.

"Gabriel," she wheezed out.

The agent wasted no time in yanking open the limo door and pulling her inside with him. Charlie was in the driver's seat and took off the instant he noticed the two of them safe in the back seat.

"Stay with me, Riley," her partner said to her. "You're gonna be fine. We'll get you on the plane and then we'll take real good care of you."

"What happened to her?" Riley's ex demanded to know.

"Three bullets," Gabriel replied. "Two hit the vest, but one managed to create a pretty big hole in her gut so if you would ever so kindly drive _faster_, I'm sure we'd all really appreciate it."

The car accelerated as Charlie rammed his foot on the gas and sped towards the awaiting plane. Putting in his earpiece, he contacted Jameson and informed the man of the situation they were currently in.

Gabriel turned his attention back on Riley, who was still fighting to breathe. The bullets in her vest had winded her and the bruises he knew were already forming would make it very painful to take in any air at all.

"Riley, listen to me. I need to you calm down. The more you struggle, the more that blood comes out and the less oxygen you'll actually get. So slow it down," he instructed. He applied pressure to the wound on her lower abdomen in order to stop the bleeding. They would be pulling up to the take off site within the next minute anyway.

When the limo screeched to a halt, Gabriel sprang from his seat and scooped his partner up into his arms. Running onto the plane, he sat down in a chair with Riley on his lap. The plane still had to take off and he was not letting go of her.

Shortly after take off—which felt like an eternity to Gabriel—the agent hurriedly placed Riley on a cleared-off table and began to remove her damaged vest. They didn't have a doctor on board and it would be hours before they even reached United States soil. He would have to take out the bullet and stitch her up or she would bleed out before they could even reach the ocean.

The other secret service agents and Jameson came over to offer their assistance. Gabriel barked out orders which were all quickly fulfilled. The agents came back with various tools, bandages, and towels.

Not thinking twice about whether she'd kill him later or not, Gabriel took the ends of Riley's untucked shirt and yanked them apart, sending buttons flying in all directions as he tore open the blouse. He needed to have an unobstructed view of the wound and the shirt, unfortunately, had to go.

The emergency medical kit on the plane was, thankfully, well-stocked and fully equipped to deal with almost any kind of injury. There was a set of small pliers in it that Gabriel had to use in order to remove the bullet. Riley had unwillingly passed out as soon as he began to dig around for the piece of metal. Anesthesia could not be provided so Gabriel was grateful that she _had_ blacked out and wouldn't be able to fight him now.

The agent was no trained doctor. The only medical experience he had was patching up injuries that occurred in the heat of battle. He was essentially winging it and going off what his instincts and memories were telling him to do. The chip couldn't help him on this one; it's not like he could look up a YouTube video of how to remove a bullet in your partner's stomach without involuntarily killing her. Even if he could do that, which he probably didn't doubt there _was_ such a video like that, there was no time to waste.

It was a long time before he was able to make the final suture and tape a thick, clean bandage over the stitches. There was nothing else he could do now. They would just have to wait until they got back to the U.S. and could get Riley a real doctor.

After he'd finished, there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere of the room. All the agents had gathered around him as had former President Finnegan. A collective sigh of relief was heaved when he set down his tools and announced he was done.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Jameson asked him.

"For now…I'd say yeah, but as soon as we land, she's gonna need to go to a hospital and see a _real_ doctor. Can you let Lillian know how the mission went?"

"Of course," the other man agreed and went to do as bid.

Slowly, the others dispersed after casting one last look at their fallen comrade. Finnegan was the last to leave.

"You did a great thing out there today, Gabriel," he told him after a moment.

"Doesn't feel like it," the agent mumbled.

The older man scoffed. "Nonsense. You were able to extract one of the captives plus an American woman and her child. Then you go and save this little lady right here after she gets herself shot."

"She's my partner," Gabriel defended. "I'd do anything for her."

Finnegan gazed at him curiously. "You sure you two are just partners?" When he received a questioning look, the man added, "It's just that the two of you seem to be a little bit closer than that. I've been in the political business a long time and I've seen my fair share of partnerships and teamwork from a number of agents. However, I've never seen two people perform so well together."

Gabriel shrugged, fixing his eyes his unconscious partner. "She looks out for me and I look out for her. Riley isn't just interested in protecting the chip in my head; she's interested in protecting _me_. I'm not a machine to her nor am I a computer or a robot. I'm just…Gabriel."

The former president didn't say anything. He still remained unconvinced and all that Gabriel had just told him only helped to reinforce the thought that he and Riley were slightly more than just "partners."

Seeing that Gabriel's attention was no longer on him, Finnegan left quietly to go sit in the other compartment. When the door closed behind him, the two CyberCom agents were left alone.

The table Riley was laying on was a coffee table that sat low on the ground. Because of its placement and height, Gabriel had to plop down on the floor right next to it so that he wouldn't be towering over her should he be standing.

Looking at her, he sighed heavily. She was paler than usual. The blood loss she'd experienced had drained her skin of its natural color.

Speaking of blood, Gabriel remembered he still needed to clean up. Before he could stand, though, hands carrying a bucket and a couple of rags came into his field of vision. Glancing up, he recognized Agent Barber, the short, dark-skinned woman that had been the first to greet Riley upon the beginning of their mission.

"I figured you'd need some help cleaning up," she told him with a kind smile.

He returned the smile and took one of the rags. He dumped it into the bucket filled with soapy water and wrung the excess water out. Grabbing one of Riley's hands, he wiped it clean of any traces of her blood, and then proceeded to do the same to the other. When that one was clean, he gently dabbed at the blood residing on skin of her stomach, taking extra precautions to avoid getting her bandage wet.

Agent Barber had been busy wiping away any blood she found on the table or the floor, deciding it was best to leave the CyberCom agent to take care of his partner. The two worked in a diligent silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward. When they were done, Barber gathered up all the tools Gabriel had used and dumped them in the bucket to soak.

"I'm gonna be in the bathroom washing this off my hands," Gabriel told her. "Can you just watch her while I'm gone. It'll only be for a moment."

"Yeah sure, go. She'll be fine," the woman replied.

Gabriel nodded gratefully then proceeded to locate the bathroom and lock himself in it. Turning on the sink, he furiously scrubbed at his hands, using an unnecessary amount of soap to get the blood off—_her_ blood off. He watched as the red water swirled down the drain until nothing was left but clear liquid. Shutting off the tap, he dried his hands and then braced them on the sink, looking in the mirror.

His protector—no, his partner—could've died today. Riley could've easily died in the back of the limo. Her life could've slipped away as he was digging the bullet out of her insides. He could've been the one to kill her and in a way, he almost did. He was now blaming himself for her getting shot. If he had just been paying closer attention to his surroundings, Riley wouldn't have had to tackle him to the ground. She wouldn't have had to take the bullet for him. She wouldn't have—

"Enough!" he growled to himself in the mirror. "There's nothing you can do now, but wait for her to wake up. She'll be fine." He always did have a hard time convincing himself of something. Right now, however, he needed to put aside his own feelings of guilt. Right now, he needed to be Riley's partner—her _friend_—for when she opened up her eyes.

As soon as he left the bathroom and took his place by Riley's side, Agent Barber silently left the room. She knew when she needed to vacate a room.

Sitting on the floor, Gabriel took Riley's hand in his and waited. It was all he could do now: sit and wait. Wait for them to return home. Wait for them to take her to the hospital. Wait for her to _wake up._

After several long minutes of silence, the man sighed. "Oh, Riley. Why'd you have to go and get yourself shot?"

"Because you would've if I hadn't," came the croaked out response.

Whipping his head to the side, he saw that Riley was indeed awake and looking over at him.

"How the hell are you even conscious right now?" he demanded to know.

She tried to shrug, but grimaced as pain flooded her body. "I'm a fast healer. Give me a couple weeks and I'll be good as new."

He snorted. "Somehow, I don't doubt that." Remembering that she was drained of energy and lots of fluids, Gabriel left her for a moment only to return with a small glass of water. Supporting her head with one of his hands, he helped her to sip at the cool liquid which in turn eased the dryness in her throat. She was able to now talk without her vocal chords scraping against each other like bricks.

"When are we returning home?" the injured agent asked him.

"Pilot said it'd be a few hours, but under the special circumstances," he gave her a pointed look, "he said he'll try to push the plane as fast as he can safely go."

"And how are you holding up?"

"Me?" he repeated incredulously. "I'm not the one that was shot. Shouldn't I be asking how _you_ are holding up?"

"Normally, yes, but I did take a bullet for you and I'm sure your conscience is probably eating away at you right about now."

"And how can you be so certain of that?"

Raising an eyebrow, she replied, "We may've only been working together for a little while, but I know you, Gabriel. You don't like others getting hurt, not when you believe you could've stopped it. It was also you're idea to go back and retrieve Emily too."

She was right. At least, that's what he was thinking. It _was_ his fault. He couldn't even look at her just then and glanced down at his lap in shame.

Seeing the distress she was causing him, Riley hurried to fix it. "Gabriel, look at me." He refused. With enormous struggle and minor pain, she managed to reach out and touch his cheek. "Look at me, Gabriel," she demanded softly.

He did.

"None of this is because of you. You didn't force me to follow you into your rescue mission; I went of my own free will. You didn't tell the Syrians to shoot at us and you most certainly didn't tell me to jump in front of a bullet for you. Shit happens, Gabriel, and sometimes there's nothing you could've done to stop it."

Staring into her eyes, he reached up and grabbed the hand that was resting on his cheek. Bringing their joined hands down to rest on the table, he gave her a tiny smile. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I have you, then, because otherwise, I'd most likely be dead five times over right about now."

Riley tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, most likely." She grinned.

"Alright, well I think you, young lady, need to get some rest," he told her.

She scowled. "Don't talk to me like that." Even as she said those words, her eyelids drooped and eventually shut. "I'm your partner, not a child." Then, she was fast asleep.

"Yeah," he smiled softly and whispered to her even though she couldn't hear him. "We're partners."

**A/N: I hope you liked it. I know there's a ton of Gabriel or Riley gets shot fics, but I thought I'd contribute to the mix.**


	2. Intimate

**A/N: So this is really fucking creepy, but I had a guest review and ask for "****what would've happened during Athens had Riley and Gabriel been together at the time" AT THE SAME TIME that I was a little more than halfway through this already. Someone gave me that prompt when I was already writing the exact same thing. I just don't know if I'll ever be able to get over how weird that coincidence was.**

**A/N 2: Anyway, a huge thanks to those who reviewed, followed, or favorited this as well as to those who, in general, just read it. Your support and encourage mean the world to me. This one, if you couldn't tell from the first author's note, is about Riley and Gabriel being in a relationship during the events of "Athens." Enjoy!**

He hit the glass with the palm of his hand, trying to get the attention of the two other occupants in the room. "Let me outta here," he said to them when they turned in his direction.

"Gabriel." It was the beautiful woman who'd handed him over to security earlier after she'd subdued him. "You need to calm down." The tone of her voice left no room for argument. "We're not trying to hurt you."

"We? Who's 'we'?" He was an ex-Delta Force soldier, but not knowing where you were or even _who_ you were could really cause the panic to set in fast. He needed answers. Now.

The young woman sighed in exasperation. She looked like she was debating on where to start and what exactly to say to him. The weird looking doctor in the background was busy fiddling with his machines and computers. Gabriel could tell that he was keeping one ear open and eavesdropping, though.

Finally, after gathering her thoughts, the woman said, "Your name…is Gabriel Vaughn." She paced back and forth along the glass and he followed her. "You were a Delta Force soldier. Now you work for a top secret program called Clockwork."

As soon as she said this, Gabriel felt a rush of information flood his brain. He could suddenly see thousands of documents, pictures, and data flying by in front of him. He had no idea what to make of it.

"My name is Riley Neal; I'm your partner," she told him.

He looked her up and down, then scoffed. "Partner?" It was a little hard for him to believe that. He seriously doubted that he would ever just be partners with a woman like this.

"I…" she trailed off not knowing how to phrase her next statement. "I kind of look after you."

His eyebrows rose. So she was his babysitter? He looked at her intrigued, but didn't interrupt as she continued.

"We have this—I can't explain it. We're friends…and partners. And," she laughed to herself and looked down at her feet. "Uh, you know what I mean."

No he didn't. But he had a feeling that she wasn't being completely 100 percent honest with him. There was something she was holding back and he wanted to know what it was.

"Are we…" he didn't really want to ask this question in front of the doctor who was still messing with the various machines placed throughout the room. Working up the courage, he continued, "Are we…intimate?"

The doctor froze and tilted his head towards them, a sure sign that he was definitely eavesdropping, though not very subtly.

The woman—Riley—appeared flustered. "Uh, no, God no. We're not—I mean we….It's just not like that." She made the mistake of looking up at him.

He cocked his head to one side and smirked. "For some reason, I just don't believe you on that."

"Gabriel," she warned. "We're not…_intimate._ We work together; that would go against every rule in the book."

"Uh huh," he said, still unconvinced. He'd obviously touched on a sensitive issue for her and they way she'd quickly denied it made him think that they were in fact _together_.

"So why am I locked up here, then?" The personal discussion forgotten, Riley and the doctor, Dr. Cassidy, proceeded to explain the entire situation to him. Unfortunately, neither one could predict that he'd use the chip in his brain to escape from them. And no one could've foreseen Gabriel playing right into the hands of Jin Cong.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

"You did," Gabriel said. He looked over at Riley who was being restrained by two men. Jin Cong had just informed she had killed his wife, Amelia, and he had looked it up using the chip. "You killed her." The woman in front of him was not his partner. She had never been his partner.

"You see," Jin Cong told him. "You can't trust them."

"Gabriel, I didn't kill her," Riley said.

"Don't try to deny it; it's in your file," he replied with disgust.

"They tampered with the file, Gabriel. They must have changed it so that when you checked it, you would see exactly what they wanted you to see. You're playing right into their hands!" she shouted at him.

"And how do I know that?" he yelled right back. "How do I know that this isn't just one of your elaborate tricks? Am I just supposed to trust everything _you_ say when you've shown me no proof or evidence that suggests you're right?"

"Yes."

"And why would I?"

"Because we're partners, Gabriel."

"No, we're—"

"Yes, we are!" There was no movement from anyone. The other CyberCom agents were sitting in their chairs stunned. The Chinese were looking slightly apprehensive, but did not interfere. They had a feeling Gabriel would shoot someone's head off if he was interrupted now. The unpredictability of what exactly he would do was leaving everyone in their places.

"Stop thinking, Gabriel," she pleaded. "You're confused because all you're doing is thinking. You're weighing the facts, but the facts can't tell you everything right now. They can't tell you that every night after work, you and I have dinner—either we go out or stay in and you cook—and then we go to your apartment and have a beer. They can't tell you that every morning _before_ work, I bring you coffee to wake you up. They can't tell you that those nights when you have nightmares or when neither of us can sleep, we stay up late talking on the phone while you sit on your kitchen counter and I stand outside on my crappy balcony."

It was obvious that with every word she said, Gabriel's defenses came down bit by bit and confusion replaced them.

"The facts can't tell you any of that!" she said firmly.

"I can't just take your word, Ms. Neal," he replied. "None of that disproves anything that Jin Cong has told me and that is that you're a traitor who killed my wife."

She sighed. "You're right. None of what I said can be proven." Riley paused. "You just have to listen to your inner voice."

Gabriel's head snapped up. Why did that sound familiar? "What did you say?"

"You have to shut off your brain, Gabriel. Listen to what your heart is telling you. Listen to your inner voice."

The agent was conflicted. He didn't know who to listen to or who to trust. Jin Cong had offered him freedom and had helped him to organize the chaos that came with the chip. These CyberCom people, however, had locked him up in a glass cage and told him nothing. Everything pointed to them being the bad guys and the Chinese being good. But then there was Riley…

The one woman who took the time in trying to explain what was going on. She had tried again and again in convincing him that they were partners and he actually worked for CyberCom.

"If you won't listen to your inner voice," she began. "Then maybe you'll listen to this." Breaking free from her restraints, somehow, she ran over to Gabriel, placed her hands on both sides of his face, and pulled his mouth down to hers.

It had happened so quickly that hardly anyone had the time to react. One second Riley's arms were being held by two of Jin Cong's men and the next she had her lips sealed over Gabriel's.

Everyone was stunned in place. Lillian, Jameson, and Nelson all had their mouths agape. It was no secret that the two partners were close—everyone knew it. This, however, was _not_ what any of them were expecting. No one had realized the partnership between CyberCom's two best agents had progressed far beyond the professional boundaries.

Gabriel, on the other hand, was finally in a place of familiarity. His head was still telling him that he didn't know who these people were, but his heart—and his lips—were saying that he _knew _Riley Neal.

Electricity sparked between them. For him, this was their first kiss, but for her, this was just the latest of many.

Unwittingly, Gabriel ended up searching through video files of security cameras and stumbled upon one in particular that stood out to him. He watched it play in his mind. Two people were in a dark alley behind some random building. The camera, perched high above, caught them as the man pressed the woman into the brick of the building, attaching his lips to any patch of skin he could find.

The woman's legs were wrapped around the man's waist as he thrust into her over and over again. Even though all of their clothes remained on, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were doing. Examining the people closer, the agent could make out the features of himself and Riley. There was no way she could betray him after a performance like that.

Breaking off the kiss and ending the video, he stared at the woman before him, face blank and unreadable. Finally he unfroze.

"Move," he whispered to her.

Immediately she hit the deck as Gabriel yanked his gun out the waistband of his jeans and fired two shots into the two men who'd been restraining Riley, killing them both instantly. More guards came in, but Gabriel was able to pick them off one by one as they entered through the single door.

Riley was working on cutting off the ties that bound Lillian, Jameson, and Nelson to their chairs. Once she was finished she looked up…only to find Gabriel and Jin Cong missing.

"I saw him," Nelson told her, noticing her search. "Jin Cong ran out as soon as Gabriel started shooting and then Gabriel went after him."

"We need to find them. I don't want to take a chance that Jin Cong will be able to persuade Gabriel to join him again," Lillian added.

"The parking garage." The others glanced questioningly at Jameson. "Jin Cong'll get out of here as soon as possible, meaning he'll head to his car that'll be in the parking garage," he explained. "He had to get in here somehow."

Riley nodded then took off with Lillian and Nelson hot on her heels. Jameson decided to stay and keep watch over everything in CDOC. Riley was on a warpath and they didn't need him to go with them.

It took a full minute for them to reach the parking garage due to the normal routes being blocked off from the blackout. It was a mere sixty seconds, but to Riley, it felt like one of the longest minutes of her life. Gabriel was facing a very dangerous foe, one that wouldn't hesitate to kill him now. She needed to find him.

The three ran through the door and into the garage. Riley heard the sounds of struggling coming from behind a large black SUV. She pulled out the gun she'd stolen back in CDOC and rushed around to the other side of the vehicle. All she had to see was Gabriel doubled over on his knees with Jin Cong about to strike him before she pulled the trigger.

Jin Cong dropped like a stone and lay on the ground, unmoving, but with moans of agony coming from his mouth.

Unhesitatingly, Riley raced over to Gabriel and helped him to his feet, subtly checking him out for any serious injury.

"You okay?" she asked as she supported some of his weight.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he replied, waving off her concern.

She gingerly touched his slightly swollen right cheek then glanced up at the cut on his forehead just above his eyebrow. "Mhm, sure you are."

He shrugged. "Mama always said I had a thick skull."

"That I don't doubt."

Their banter was interrupted by Lillian. "Riley." The two agents looked at her. "Please take Gabriel down to Clockwork. I would like my agent back now." As they began to walk away, their boss added, "And Nelson? Go with them."

Upon arriving at the stairs that would carry them to the lab, Gabriel grinned at his partner smugly.

"And you said we weren't intimate," he said.

Riley rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly. "Shut up, Gabriel."

"Uh, guys? May I—" Nelson started.

"No," they both cut him off, knowing that he would want to give input into their relationship status.

Grumbling to himself, Nelson simply followed right behind the pair on the way to his father's lab.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

It took all day for the Doc to fix whatever memory loss Gabriel had experienced. He had needed to replace and update a couple safety precautions to the chip, but other than that, the ex-soldier would be good as new.

"Thanks, Doc," Gabriel told the older man sincerely. After he had nodded in acknowledgement, Gabriel felt the need to apologize. "Sorry about all this."

Dr. Cassidy was having none of it, though. "Hell, Gabriel. You proved something last night that philosophers have wondered across time and morrow. The mind is a collection of perceptions, calculations, memory, and instincts, but ultimately the most important decisions, they aren't made by are minds, are they? No siree. Where we find our most profound intelligence is after all," he gestured to Gabriel's chest, "in the heart."

The younger man smiled at his friend.

"Now speaking of hearts," the Doc segued.

And the smile dropped. "Nelson told you, didn't he? I'm not discussing this with you, Doc."

"Oh come now, Gabriel, there's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed of Riley," he snapped.

"Then why haven't you told any of us about you and her?"

He sighed. "C'mon, Doc, you know that it's frowned upon for partners or even agents in general to be…_consorting_. We had no choice but to keep it a secret. Riley was afraid that they'd break up our partnership if the higher ups found out."

"And she was right," came a feminine voice behind them. Lillian walked in the lab. "If your _relationship_ were to get out to the wrong people, then yes, you would most definitely be split up."

Gabriel held his breath and stared her down.

"However, seeing as only myself, Jameson, Nelson, and Dr. Cassidy know about this…well, we'll just keep it our little secret. Just between the four of us and you two."

Exhaling in relief, the agent smiled at her. "Thanks, Lillian. I owe you one."

"No, you don't." The woman shook her head. "You've saved my ass countless times, Gabriel. I probably owe you more than this, but for now, we'll just call it even." He nodded. "Now, I do believe you have a dinner reservation to get to."

His eyebrows furrowed. "How did you know about that?"

She laughed. "You're not nearly as subtle as you'd hoped you were. You should be more careful about where you discuss your date nights in these halls. I hear and see everything," she said, giving him a pointed look.

"Of course. Good night, Doc." As he passed by his boss he added, "Good night, Lillian."

"Have a good night with your girlfriend, Gabriel," Dr. Cassidy teasingly called after him. When he was out of earshot, he said to himself with a fond smile, "Lord knows you've earned it."

**A/N: Please let me know what you thought and feel free to keep sending me prompts. I'm on Spring Break this week and I have absolutely nothing to do for the next several days. Keep me entertained and I'll keep **_**you**_** entertained.**


	3. Darts

**A/N: I can't believe it: three chapters in one day! That's a record for me, but try not to get used to it. A gracious thank you to those who have reviewed, followed, or favorited. It really makes me happy that you guys like this and want to read more. This chapter has Riley, Gabriel, Nelson, and the Doc in it as well as a bar, darts, and some ill-timed jealousy.**

"Aw, c'mon, Doc. You gotta come out with us," Gabriel pleaded. "Even Nelson's going and he _never_ drinks."

"Yeah, Dad," Nelson chimed in. "Even I'm going."

Dr. Cassidy still looked a little indecisive. "I don't know. I have to be in early for work tomorrow."

"Then we'll just make sure to send you home after about an hour or so," Gabriel suggested. He could see that he was _so close_ to getting the older man to cave. "Come on, it's just a couple beers and a good time. We've had a hard few days and now we need to just kick back and relax."

Dr. Cassidy flicked his eyes back and forth between his son and what he considered his foster son. Hell, he could never really deny either of them something separately, but together? Together, it was useless refusing them. He sighed. "Oh alright. I suppose a drink won't do anything too bad."

"Yes!" Nelson shouted gleefully. He and Gabriel hi-fived each other and led the Doc out of the lab.

"Alright, so I'll meet you guys at the bar in about an hour after you go home and get changed," Gabriel instructed.

"What's wrong with what we have on right now?" Dr. Cassidy asked him.

His friend looked him up and down and said, "You're kidding me, right? Doc, you can't go to a bar dressed in…well, dressed like _that_." He waved his hand at both his and Nelson's somewhat nerdy attire. "You need to go in something casual; something like jeans and a t-shirt. Something," Gabriel's attention was suddenly caught by a person in red just over Nelson's shoulder. "Sexy," he breathed.

"I need to wear something sexy?" Dr. Cassidy asked him, an eyebrow raising high. When the man didn't respond, both father and son turned around to see what had captured their friend's focus so much.

"Whoa," Nelson observed.

"No wonder he's stunned right now," the Doc mumbled to himself.

Not ten feet away, Riley Neal was standing unaware of the attention she had brought to herself with her choice of clothing. The short red strapless dress she had on only came to mid-thigh and hugged her body like it was a part of her skin. Gone was the ordinary ponytail she sometimes wore. Her hair normally looked like it had been simply washed and brushed, but now it was slightly curled, hanging loosely over her bare shoulders. The four-inch red heels screamed "fuck me" to anyone that noticed. For the first time in his life, Gabriel had been rendered speechless.

Riley had been on her phone, seemingly texting someone, until she felt eyes on her. Looking up, she searched around and spotted the three stunned men, all with their jaws open. She smiled and called out to them, "Hey guys, where are you all off to?" When she received no reply, she strode over to them and almost had to physically shut their mouths herself. "Guys?"

"Oh, uh," the Doc was the first to recover. "We're, uh, just going out for a couple of beers. Aren't we fellas?" he asked the other two. They were still stuck in their trance, however. Reaching out, he smacked each on the back of their head, knocking them back into reality.

Gabriel glared quickly at the man before turning back to his partner. "Big date?" he teased.

"Actually, yes," she told him. "He's gonna pick me up here then we're going out to dinner."

"Sounds nice," Gabriel commented with mock interest. "What's his name?"

"I don't remember my private life being any business of yours," Riley retorted.

"Avoiding the question, are we?" he observed. "What's the matter? It's not like his name is something embarrassing like Eugene, or Leslie, or Glenn." When she didn't respond, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh my God, it is, isn't it? That's why you won't tell us his name."

"Gabriel, stop it. His name isn't embarrassing."

"I think it is. Was it one of the ones I already said? No," he backtracked, "it's not one of those. Is it Gaylord?" he asked with a smirk.

She scoffed. "You have seen 'Meet the Fockers' to many times."

"Maybe it's one that sounds like it should be a girl's name," he said. "Let's see…Kelley? Darcy? Oh, I know! Stacey." If looks could kill then Gabriel would be dead ten times over. "That's it, his name is Stacey."

"Have I ever told you before that I hate you?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Plenty of times. So Stacey is his name. Or is it…is it _her_ name?" The man raised an eyebrow and leered at her. "I don't think we ever really established which way you swung, Riley Neal."

The agent rolled her eyes. "You're a pig, Gabriel. And for you're information, he _is_ a guy and no, his name is _not_ Stacey."

"I just don't get why you won't tell us anything."

"Why do you wanna know so badly, Gabriel? Why do have such a vested interest in my personal life and who I'm going on dates with?" Riley demanded to know. She stepped closer to him, decreasing some of the distance that separated them.

"I don't," he denied. "I'm just teasing you, that's all."

Riley continued to get closer to him until she was practically right in his face. "Hmm, you might wanna try harder to convince yourself of that first before you even try to convince me." She took a couple steps back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, my date's here."

Gabriel was able to breathe again as soon as she'd given him some personal space. Why _had _he been so interested in knowing about her date plans? The bullshit excuse that he was just teasing wouldn't fool anybody, especially himself. Was it possible that he was…jealous?

_No, don't be stupid, Gabriel,_ he told himself. _Riley's your partner; there's no way you have feelings for her._

Right?

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Gabriel sat at the bar stool, sipping at his beer and quietly sulking. He had been just a tad bit miserable all night thanks to his partner. Miraculously, Nelson and the Doc had the decency and intelligence to not mention anything pertaining to the events prior to their outing. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as father and son attempted to play pool. It was quite humorous even to the brooding human superweapon.

"Is this seat taken?" a voice behind him asked. He recognized that voice. Surprised, he turned and saw Riley waiting for an answer from him.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's for my partner. Maybe you've seen her lately, but I don't know. She got kind of dressed up today for some date that she should be on right about now, but for some reason she came to this bar."

She gave him a look.

After a second, he conceded. "Oh alright, you can sit down."

As she took her seat and ordered a beer, he studied her appearance. Her hair was still in curls and her fuck-me heels were still strapped to her feet, but other than that, she had changed out of the gorgeous dress and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a date?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Did you change in your car in the parking lot?"

"Yup."

"Was he boring?"

"Yup." There was silence between them. Then, "His name was Chip."

"Sounds like a douche."

"Yup." And that was the end of that. The pair gently tapped the necks of their bottles together and took a swig of their beer.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. With them, something words weren't always needed. The entertainment they received from watching Nelson and the Doc play pool was enough to quell any desire for conversation.

It was several minutes before either of them spoke again. "You know how to play darts?" Gabriel asked her.

She glanced at the two dartboards that were hanging on the wall with several feet of space in between them for multiple games to be played at once. "No, I don't," she said eventually. "Well, I mean, I've played before, I'm just not that good at it."

"Come on, let's play then."

Riley's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What part of 'not that good' didn't you understand?"

"Well, it's not like you'll get any better just sitting there on the bar stool," he reasoned. Walking away, he went to retrieve their darts from the board.

Riley sighed. There was no way she was getting out of this. Reluctantly, she made her way over to Gabriel and observed as he prepared to throw the first dart.

"Watch and learn, partner. Watch and learn." Tossing it at the board, his smirk dropped as the dart hit the 1 section.

Riley laughed. "And what exactly am I learning? How to get the lowest score possible?"

Grumbling to himself, he threw the next dart and cheered triumphantly as it landed in the triple 20. "Ha! Told you."

"Mhm, let's see you do it again." She stood back as he threw the third and final dart and rolled her eyes as it hit the outer bullseye ring for 25 points.

"Alright, let's see: 1 plus triple 20 plus 25 gives me a grand total of—drum roll please—86. Thank you, please, hold your applause."

Riley laughed at him. "You just couldn't get any more full of yourself could you? I mean, you didn't even hit the inner bullseye."

"Oh, like you could," he challenged.

"I bet you I could."

He hesitated. "How much?"

"20 bucks for each time I do—or don't—hit the inner bullseye," she wagered. Sticking out her hand, she calmly and patiently waited for him to take the deal. Eventually, he gave in.

"Deal," he said.

Removing her hand from his—and ignoring the slightly spark she felt at their touch—she gathered her darts and took a steadying breath. Moments later, she threw her darts at the board, one after another, in rapid succession.

Gabriel flicked his eyes over to the dartboard and felt his jaw come unhinged. There, dead center, were three neatly clustered darts in the middle of the inner bullseye. Stalking up to the board, he stared at it in disbelief. "No way," he muttered.

"Pay up, partner," Riley announced, barely able to contain her level of enjoyment.

"How did you…? How…? Did you just…_hustle_ me?" he demanded to know.

She shrugged innocently and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Taking out sixty dollars, she placed the wallet back in his jeans and walked back to her beer. "You should really be more careful about making bets with people, Gabriel. Especially when you don't know that most of their drunken college nights were spent in front of a dartboard."

"I can't believe this," he mumbled under his breath. Turning around, he went to pluck the six sharp-tipped darts from where they were embedded deep within the cork material of the board. Suddenly, he felt a piercing pain on the side of his skull.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Holy shit! Gabriel, are you alright?" Nelson ran over panicked out of his mind.

"What the hell was that?" the agent inquired. He moved his hand up to his head in order to find the source of the pain, but Riley reached over and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from doing so.

"No, don't touch it. You might make it worse," she warned.

"Nelson, did you…did you throw a _dart_ at me?"

The younger man cringed. "Not necessarily _at you_, but yes, I did throw a dart and it just so happened to find a home in your cranium."

"It'll be okay, it's just a small dart," Riley tried to reassure him.

"Well, if it's just a small dart then take it out." All three hesitated. "That's it," he began walking to the door. "I'm going home and dealing with it there." Remembering something, he paused, pulled out a ten and tossed it at the bartender. "To replace the dart that's now in my head. I'd give it back to you, but you might not want it by then."

"Gabriel, get back here. We need to get that thing out of your skull," Dr. Cassidy ordered.

"And _I _will, just as soon as I get back to my place," he replied, leaving the bar and his coworkers to stare after him.

"Well, good night then, Dr. Cassidy, Nelson," Riley said. "I'm just gonna follow him home and make sure he doesn't get hurt worse than he already is."

The Doc shook his head. "Good night, Riley. And please take good care of him. Lillian would have our heads if he ended up seriously injured from a game of darts."

"Of course. I'll see you both at work." When she walked outside to the parking lot, Gabriel was just starting up his car. Sliding into the driver's seat of hers, she sped out of the lot in order to catch up to her partner who had a head start on her.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

"Ow!"

"Hold still!" Riley ordered, carefully prodding the area around where the dart had entered his thick skull. "It doesn't look too deep so I'm confident in saying that you'll be fine."

"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as this damn thing is removed from my skull—hey! Watch it!" he complained.

"Oh, shut up, you big baby."

"You know, I get the feeling that you're taking some sick, twisted pleasure in torturing—" he inhaled sharply and went rigid.

Riley stood over him, smiling triumphantly with the dart in her hand. "You were saying?" she mocked.

"Ow," he said calmly.

Riley dropped the dart onto the table and started cleaning out the small wound. Open injuries always needed to be cleaned, but you never knew what kind of things lurked on darts found at a bar. Finishing, she put a band-aid over the tiny hole and said, "There, all done."

Strutting away towards the door, she called over her shoulder, "Good night, Gabriel."

"Wait," he exclaimed. She halted and he stood up from his chair. "I'm sorry."

Glancing at him, she asked, "For what?"

He hung his head. "For acting like an ass. For _being_ an ass earlier when you were about to go on your date. I really had no reason to be like that."

"Then why did you?" Riley turned to face him.

"I don't know," he stated too quickly.

Once again, his partner had the brilliant idea of getting up close and personal with the amount of space between them.

"Oh, but I think you do. I think you know exactly why you were behaving like a jealous child." She stepped into his space and tilted her head up. "Don't you?"

Gabriel swallowed hard. Riley was treading on very dangerous territory. The line she was walking was getting thinner and thinner with every word she said. Slowly, he nodded. Truthfully, he _did_ know why. It was because he liked her. He was jealous that she got to go out on dates with other men while she was confined to a simple professional partnership with him. He wanted her—_all_ of her—to be his and his alone.

"Riley," he cautioned. "If we do this, there's no going back. I won't pretend like nothing happened. So if you really want this, then say it because my self-restraint is wearing extremely thin right now."

The four-inch heels she was wearing helped to boost her up, but she was still a couple inches shorter than him. Leaning forward, with hardly any distance separating their lips, she whispered huskily, "I want you."

Immediately, Gabriel pulled her mouth up to his and backed her into his front door. Clothes were shed and neither cared where they landed.

Oh yes, it was going to be along night for these two partners.

**A/N: Hope you like it as much as the last ones. This was written at one in the morning so I honestly hope it doesn't suck. Remember, you can always leave me with a prompt or any suggestions that you wish to see. And now, I'm going to bed so have a good night/day/evening wherever you are.**


	4. Insecurity

**A/N: This one is for evincis who wanted to see the ending conversation with Riley, Gabriel, and Troy in "The Grey Hat". I kind of got a little scrambled and carried away with this one so I'm not actually sure what the fuck the intended plot of this chapter was. It seems kind of mediocre in my opinion because I felt like I was all over the fucking place with it, but let me know.**

**A/N 2: I want to give you all a huge thank you for your support. I honestly never expected the kind of reaction I received and it completely overwhelmed me. The Intelligence fandom is by far one of the nicest fandoms I've ever had the pleasure of writing for.**

"There's somebody here to see you," Gabriel said, gesturing behind Troy.

The kid looked over his left shoulder and spotted Riley leaning up against the wall. He smiled and said, "Well, I was hoping to see that pretty face again."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Keep dreaming, kid."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that. You know all the high-tech computer wizardry got you all hot." Troy turned back to Gabriel who was making a great attempt at holding his laughter in.

"You're right actually," Riley told him. "All the high-tech computer wizardry _did_ get me hot." She paused as Troy's expression molded into one of shock. "But not from you," she added.

"What do you—"

"Careful, Troy," Gabriel warned. "That pretty face is spoken for."

Troy flicked his eyes back and forth between the two partners, scrutinizing both. Finally, he exclaimed, "Are you serious?"

Gabriel nodded.

"Man, I _knew_ something was going on between the two of you," the kid shouted victoriously. "I mean, the way you guys are practically joined at the hip and fight like some old married couple, I should've known." He held out his hand for his friend to shake. "Dude, seriously, congrats on the score."

"Hey," Riley objected.

"Sorry."

"No, you're not."

Troy shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a dude and you're hot."

Riley gave her partner a look that said, "Let's move this along and get to the surprise."

"Easy, kid, I'm not fond of sharing," Gabriel told him. "And besides, she's not exactly the person that's here to see you." He nodded to Riley, who then motioned for someone to come in the lab.

As soon as Troy spotted the man that entered, his face fell. Looking accusingly at Gabriel, he asked, "Why did you do this?"

"'Cause I'm your friend." The agent got off his stool and went over to the other side of the table. He put his hand on Troy's shoulder and gave him encouraging look before walking over to where Riley was still leaning up against the wall. His partner pushed off the wall and let him throw an arm over her shoulders. Then, they watched the scene unfold silently.

"T-man, is that really you?" Drew asked the young hacker. Even though he received no response, the older man knew it was him. Suddenly, he grabbed him and pulled him in for a tight hug. After all these years, they were finally reunited.

The two CyberCom agents decided to leave the room in order to give the brothers some privacy. Gabriel let his arm drop off Riley's shoulders and placed his hand in the small of her back, gently guiding her through the door and into the hallway.

"We did a good thing, huh?" he asked her.

"Yeah, we did," she assured him.

The lapsed into a comfortable silence until it was Riley that broke it. "You'll make a great dad some day, Gabriel."

The man tilted his head to side, curious about why she was bringing up that particular subject. "Why, Riley…is that your way of saying you want kids?"

She shoved him lightly. "Shut up. I never said anything about that. All I said was that _you_ will make a great dad."

"And how do you figure?"

Her shoulders lifted then fell. "I don't know. I just say the way you were with Troy and how you acted around him. He may not be a little kid, but that doesn't change the fact that he _is_ a kid, one that indirectly was looking for guidance; guidance that _you_ gave him. So yes, I believe that one day, whether it's in the near or distant future, you will make a great dad."

"And what about you," he asked. "Don't you think you'll be a good mother?"

Riley shook her head vigorously. "Okay, we are _so_ not having that discussion."

"Why not? We already talked about me, so now it's your turn."

"I just don't see how it's important."

Gabriel looked puzzled. "Any why not?"

"Because I don't know if I even want to have kids." There is was. She dropped the bombshell on him.

Her partner's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait a minute. You're saying that I'll be a good dad one day, but now you're also saying that you don't wanna have kids. Riley…you don't think we'll last…do you?"

"That's, uh, not _exactly_ what I'm saying," she stuttered out, flustered.

"Yes, it is. How can you have such little faith in us?" he wondered.

"Gabriel, now is not the time nor the place—"

"No, you know what? I'm outta here." The man stormed off.

Riley watched him go and sighed. She had a _huge_ misunderstanding to clear up and an enormous apology to make. But work came first. Lillian still needed her report and that had to be done before she could go and fix her relationship.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

It was late by the time Riley got home. Actually, she wasn't at her own apartment at all. Currently, she was standing outside Gabriel's front door, working up the nerve to knock.

_This is ridiculous—_you're_ being ridiculous,_ she scolded herself. _Just do it. _She had been through hell and back with Gabriel numerous times. They'd faced countless threats and dangers ranging from a deadly disease epidemic to pissed off rogue Chinese agents yet she was unable to simply knock on the door.

Inhaling deeply, Riley raised her fist and rapped on the wood three times. She waited for no more than a few seconds before it opened.

The duo stared at each other before Riley spoke. "I'm sorry."

He remained quiet.

"I didn't mean it the way it came out. I wasn't thinking and I'm sorry."

Finally, he sighed and stepped to the side, allowing her to enter the apartment. When she was in, he closed the door and turned around to face her. "Riley, I'm not upset about the whole 'not having kids' thing. Frankly, I think it's still a little too early in our relationship to be having that conversation. It's just the fact that you implied you didn't think our relationship would work. You didn't think that _we_ would work."

"Gabriel, it's not that I don't _want_ us to work—I do, I really do," she explained. "But we have to be practical and realistic. We're basically living a lie. Every day we walk into CyberCom and we have to lie to everyone, claiming that we're not together. We're just friends in their eyes and honestly, Gabriel, that's all we should ever be able to be."

"And why's that, Riley? Why can't we be more than friends?" he asked her, his temper rising.

"Because of the chip!" That caught Gabriel off guard. "That chip in your brain—all that intelligence CyberCom relies upon you to get them—one day, it's gonna stand in the way of us. They own you."

"They own the chip—"

"—that's inside you—"

"But it's not me!" he yelled. "They may own the chip, but they _don't_ own me! And if one day they decide that that isn't the case, then I'll—"

"What, Gabriel? You'll what?" she asked him.

"I'll leave," he told her softly. "They can tell me to go wherever they want me to, but if they try to separate us, if they try to split up our partnership, then I'll leave."

Riley shook her head. "I can't let you do that, Gabriel. You help to change the world with that chip, and if you leave—"

"They can find someone to replace me," he said. "Riley," he placed his hands comfortingly on her shoulders and made her look him straight in the eye. "You are far more important to me than some intelligence agency could ever be."

Riley smiled at him as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Gabriel brushed it away with the pad of his thumb cupped the side of her face.

"Tell me you don't want us to be together," he challenged. "Tell me you don't think we'll be able to move past this."

"I can't" she whispered.

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Well then that settles it: no more insecurities about our relationship. Let's agree to talk about them from now on. You and I are action-oriented people, we're not talkers, but with this, we kinda have to be. Deal?"

She grinned, showing off her perfect smile. "Deal." Leaning in, she sealed her mouth over his, enjoying every second of the kiss.

"You know," he murmured against her lips, "this discussion is far from over."

"I know. We still have a lot to talk about," she told him as she removed her jacket and tore his shirt off. "But for now, Gabriel, I'm gonna need to you to put that mouth to better use."

"Yes, ma'am," he complied all to willingly.

**A/N: I'm in the middle of working on a few other prompts for people, but feel free to continue to leave more. They don't have to be overly general or extremely specific, but sometimes, if it's too non-specific, I have a couple questions or if it's too narrow, then it can be a little too confining. Thank you all so much for your continued encouragement.**


	5. Alibi

**A/N: This chapter is for Zmrzlina763 who said, **_**"**__**I would love to see something where Riley actually was Gabriel's alibi in Event Horizon when Lillian asks if they were together all night."**_** I really hope this lives up to your expectations.**

**A/N 2: So I was rewatching the scene that Zmrzlina763 was talking about in order to get the dialogue correct and I noticed for the first time that after Lillian asks Riley if she was with him all night, Riley nods her head and says yes. I know later in the episode she helped Gabriel to escape, but this blew my mind. She told a bold-faced lie to her boss and her sometimes friend in order to protect Gabriel. Some of you might've already noticed that, but I thought I'd just share with the rest of you. It gave me a lot feels. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

"Aw, come on!" he shouted in disbelief. Looking at his partner, he added, "You're good at pool too?"

"Stop whining, Gabriel, and take the loss like a man," Riley teased. She held out her hand palm up. "C'mon, fork it over."

Begrudgingly, he handed over the twenty they had been playing for. "Did you spend your entire youth playing bar games?"

"Just the college portion." She smiled at him. "Don't be such a sore loser. So you've lost one or two games, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that it was five games and a hundred bucks," he retorted. "You know we could always go back to my original suggestion and play for clothes." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Seriously? We're in a public place, Gabriel.

"That wasn't a 'no'," he pointed out.

Riley rolled her eyes and sighed. "Even if we had played for clothes, you would be the only one naked right now. That kinda defeats the purpose of strip _anything_."

He shrugged. "Been there, done that." At her curious expression, he added, "Story for another time."

Riley didn't push the subject.

Gabriel laid down his pool stick and said, "I'm done. You've taken all my money."

She laughed. "Don't worry, Gabriel, I'll get the tab. Consider it a nice gesture since you're now broke." She checked her watch and saw that it was getting late. Just because he had a high-tech microchip in his brain, didn't mean that her partner didn't need sleep. "Alright, let's get outta here," she told him.

"It's only," he checked the time, "ten o'clock. My grandmother goes to bed later than this." Her expression gave no room for argument, but that didn't stop him from trying. "Can we at least go back to my place?"

She raised her eyebrow. "And do what?"

"I don't know. Hang out? Have another beer, turn on the TV—oh I know!" He had a look that said either a brilliant or a stupid idea had come to him, there was no in between on that. "We can play strip poker!"

Riley's jaw dropped. "Wow, you are really determined to try to get me out of my clothes, aren't you?"

"I'm a man. What can I say?"

The former Secret Service agent thought it over. If the luck that had followed her around all night was still with her, then the poker games would end in only Gabriel stripping. What she didn't know, however, was how good his poker game was. For all she knew, Gabriel could be an excellent card player and she would be the one shedding clothes. It was a risk that she was willing to take. Besides, he was right, ten o'clock _was_ an early bedtime for them.

"Alright, let's do it," she said.

That caught him off guard. He'd never actually expected her to agree to playing. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. Let's do it; let's play."

"Alrighty then. Pay the tab and let's go," he instructed.

He watched as Riley handed over some of the money she'd won from him and strutted towards the exit. Noticing that he wasn't following her, she tossed a glance over her shoulder and asked him, "You coming?"

Immediately, he ran after her, tossing her the keys to the car so that she get in the driver's seat and take them home. He'd had one more beer than her and wasn't willing to risk it.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

"Mother fucker, how do you keep winning?!" Gabriel whined as Riley laid down her hand.

"I'm just lucky like that," she told him. "Now, off with a piece of clothing."

He glared at her as he shucked off his shoe and tossed it in the corner of the room. They were sitting on the floor right by the coffee table that was in front of his couch. He'd suggested that spot for two reasons: number one being that his kitchen seemed like a weird place to play strip poker and number two being that his bedroom seemed like it would be…_too_ suggestive. Sure, he wanted to get her at least partially naked, but he wasn't a total pig and wanted to jump her right then and there. Whatever happened tonight, she was still his partner and friend and he had more respect for her than that.

"That doesn't count," she informed him.

He looked bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"You can't use separate shoes—or socks—as different pieces of clothing," she protested.

"Yeah, you can."

"Gabriel, you buy them together."

"I also buy my undershirts together. And my underwear for that matter."

Riley sighed. "But you don't wear them together. If you wear them together, then that means they both count as _one_ article of clothing."

Gabriel threw his hands in the air. "But that means, I have less things to take off than you."

She leaned in close to him. "Then maybe you shouldn't lose so much. You also shouldn't have taken your jacket off beforehand. Now," she backed off and sat up straight again. "Let's continue playing…or do you give up already?"

He stuck his tongue out at her in answer to her teasing. Then he yanked off the other shoe and tossed it away to join its twin.

He dealt the next set of cards and rejoiced a few minutes later when they both showed their hands and his was the better one.

"Finally!" he cheered.

Riley rolled her eyes, as she usually did when she was in his presence, and pulled off her boots. Taking a long swig of her beer, she said, "Alright, next round."

Four rounds later, Riley was still decently clothed, having only removed her jacket and her socks. Gabriel, however, was a completely different story. He was carelessly sitting in his boxers and socks.

"You look ridiculous," Riley laughed.

"Should I be insulted that you're laughing at me when I'm half naked?" he wondered.

"I'm not laughing at your state of _undress_, I'm laughing at your state of _dress_."

The agent cocked his head to the side in confusion. "The difference being…?"

"You sitting there in your socks and boxers looks completely absurd," she stated bluntly. She went to drink her beer, but found it empty.

Gabriel stood up and struck a pose. "You know you want this." He gestured at himself.

"Yeah, in my lonely, pathetic dreams," she mocked.

The man placed a hand over his chest. "You wound me, Riley Neal, and just for that, I'm not gonna get you another beer."

As he began to walk towards his fridge, she called out, "Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Can you please get me another drink?"

He shook his head doubtfully. "I don't know, Riley, I don't think a simple sorry is gonna cut it."

"Well then what do you want me to do?"

"Seeing as you had a jacket on in the beginning of the game which gave you an unfair advantage over me, I think it's only reasonable that you take your shirt off," he suggested, a joking inflection in his voice. He was laughing internally. There was no chance in hell that he would really ever make her—oh shit, she was actually gonna do it.

He saw her bring her hands to the hem of her shirt so he decided to get serious. "Riley, I was only kidding. You don't have to—" his voice failed as soon as she ripped off her shirt, leaving her torso clad in only a skimpy black bra.

Riley could've pissed herself laughing at Gabriel's expression. He was stunned into silence and couldn't remove his eyes from her.

"What's the matter, Gabriel? You're acting like you've never seen a woman in a bra before."

Her teasing broke him out of his stupor. He averted his eyes and focused on the refrigerator in front of him. "Look, Riley…I think we've gone far enough with this. Why don't we just call it a night?"

"But, it was _your_ idea to play strip poker?"

"Yeah, and it was a dumb one," he conceded, still not looking her direction. This had truly been on of his worst ideas ever.

"Come on, Gabriel," she tried to persuade him. "One more round. We're tied and this'll break it."

Taking a steadying breath, Gabriel strode over to where Riley was patiently sitting on the floor and took his seat across from her. Dealing the cards, they continued to play the last round of the night. Whoever one this one would be the winner; he couldn't afford to lose right now.

Unfortunately, his concentration was broken when Riley shifted in her place, causing his eyes to peek up from behind his cards and settle on her chest. God, what was _wrong_ with him? She was his partner, not some random bimbo. He shouldn't be objectifying her like this.

Realizing that it was his turn, he tore his gaze from her and made his final move. This was it. For all the marbles, this reveal would tell them who was the grand champion of the night. Gathering his courage, he placed his cards down on the floor for Riley to see as she did the same for him. Studying her cards, his jaw dropped.

He won!

Gabriel couldn't believe it. After the God-awful losing streak he'd been having the entire night, he hadn't expected to actually win. When he recovered from his shock, he cheered victoriously.

"Aha! Looks like _I'm_ the champion of the night," he boasted as Riley shook her head at his antics, a tiny smile appearing on her face.

Abruptly, Riley stood up and said, "I'm gonna use your bathroom before I leave. You can clean up here, _winner_." Stooping, she scooped up her shirt and pulled it over her head on her way to the bathroom.

Gabriel had redressed and was still running on the slight high he'd gotten from his victory when she returned barely a minute later. He didn't notice that she was carrying something in her hand as he walked her to his front door.

She turned around and tucked whatever it was she had in her hand in the front pocket of his jeans.

"For your win." Winking at him, she spun around and strode off down the hallway.

Puzzled, Gabriel reached into his pocket and took out her little gift. When he saw what it was, he nearly choked on his own tongue. Making a hasty decision, he ran down the hallway in order to catch up to his partner.

Approaching her from behind, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face him. Shoving her back into the wall, he pressed his entire body up against hers.

"I don't think so, Riley," he growled. "You can't just leave me your panties then walk away."

"You won the round," she husked. "It was only fair that I take off another piece of clothing."

"Oh, trust me, there will be _plenty_ of clothes being taken off tonight." As he grabbed her ass and lifted up, Riley wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him walk them back into his apartment and kicking the door shut behind him.

Suffice to say, no one left that apartment at all that night.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

"So right now, I need everything we know out on the table," Lillian told him. "Starting with where you were last night."

This was insane. Gabriel, a _murderer?_ No, it just didn't make sense. And Riley knew for a fact that there was no way he could've killed those three men. She had kept him fairly…occupied throughout the entire night.

Riley figured that it would be like ripping off a band-aid. Do it fast and it should be painless.

"He was with me," she informed the group.

Lillian looked interested. "All night?"

"Shut up," Nelson said, instantly looking between the two of them with intrigue and glee.

"Yeah, all night," Riley confirmed, looking at Gabriel.

He smiled at her, remembering the wild night they had together. That was one he would not be forgetting anytime soon. Now, they just had to figure out, how the hell he was appearing as the murderer whenever he cyber-rendered the scene. He clearly couldn't have been the one to do it considering he and Riley hadn't left his bed all night.

Lillian sighed. "And when did this development occur?" As Director of CyberCom, it was her duty to know whether or not her agents were fraternizing with each other, especially when it concerned the United States' high profile superweapon.

"Just last night," Gabriel told her.

"That is so…awesome!" Nelson cried out, unable to contain his excitement. "I knew you two would eventually get together!"

"Nelson, calm down," Lillian ordered. "This now brings up a huge problem."

"And what problem is that?" Riley asked.

"Two agents fraternizing together are supposed to be split up in order to make it impossible for it to happen again. Now, I don't want to do that and under normal circumstances, your…relationship would simply stay between all of us. However, Weatherly and Tetazoo are on their way and unless, Gabriel, you and Riley wish to have your partnership severed, I'd be very careful what you tell them regarding your alibi."

"This is ridiculous," he remarked.

"I agree, but those two don't know you like I do and while I know that you couldn't have killed those men, they don't. Be prepared for anything," his boss warned him.

Just then Jameson raced in. "Lillian, you're not answering your phone."

"So?"

"So—" the agent didn't even get to finish his sentence before several armed guards stormed in, led by the Director of the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence.

Riley placed her hand on her holstered gun and took in all her surroundings. Her Secret Service training kicked in, telling her to always look for a way out.

"Agent Neal, remove your hand from your weapon," Tetazoo ordered.

She had no choice but to obey.

"Agent Vaughn, on your feet, please," Weatherly instructed.

Glaring at her superiors, Riley asked, "Are you charging him with anything?"

"For now we'll call it 'protective custody'," the CIA Director replied.

"We're keeping our assets safe," Weatherly added.

Ever the smartass, Gabriel just had to put in his two cents. "Yeah, this feels _real_ safe." The sarcasm dripped from his tongue.

As the guards led him out of the lab, he cast a glance back at Riley, who was left to stare after him. Giving her a reassuring smile, he turned away.

Riley felt helpless as she watched her partner be escorted away. There had to be something she could do to help him! Scoffing, she thought, _So much for an alibi._

**A/N: Thank you all taking the time to read this. Let me know what you thought and feel free to keep leaving prompts or what you want to see. **


	6. Photo

**A/N: This chapter is for annaliesegrace. She said **_**"**__**I'd be interested in what you could do post-finale. After his Mom leaves."**_

**A/N 2: Thank you to everyone for all the kind comments and reviews, they really help me to keep churning out new chapters. Just so everyone knows, I have a friend coming over my house later so this could possibly be the only chapter I put out today. With that being the case, I really hope you enjoy reading this.**

Riley had to cough a couple times in order to keep from choking as she laughed out loud. "Oh my God, is that really him?" she asked Mary Vaughn.

The older woman nodded. "Uh huh, sure was. Wasn't he the most adorable little baby you ever saw?"

Riley continued to laugh and study the small photo that Gabriel's mother had pulled out of her wallet. "Is he…in the tub?"

"Yeah," Mrs. Vaughn grinned. "I remember thinking that I should snap a quick photo of him at the time so that I could carry it around just to embarrass him later." Both women shared a hearty laugh.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's with all the noise?" Gabriel entered the room. There he found his partner and his mother sitting on his couch and looking at an old, beat up picture. The two froze, looked at him, then at the photo, then back at each other before bursting out laughing again.

Gabriel continued to look bewildered and lost beyond belief. "What's going on? What's got you two so riled up?"

"Noth-nothing," Riley said in between gasps for air.

Her partner shook his head. "Women. I leave to go to the bathroom for one minute and I come back to find you giggling over some photo." He turned away, intent on ignoring them, but suddenly halted in place. Slowly, he faced them and asked carefully, "Mom, is that—"

Riley snorted, trying to hold back another outburst.

"Aw, Mom," he whined. "You said you got rid of that photo!"

"And why would I do that? This is probably the cutest one I have of you," his mother replied.

"You know, Gabriel, the little scruff you have on your face right now is nothing compared to the bubble beard when you were little," Riley joked.

Gabriel was getting desperate. His mother used to show that picture to all of his old girlfriends and it always embarrassed the hell out of him. But now? Showing his partner, the woman he had to work with everyday? That was something completely different. He would never be able to live it down if that photo somehow spread to Nelson or Jameson…and he wouldn't put it past her to show them it either.

"C'mon, Mom, just put it away," he tried to persuade her. "I'm sure Riley doesn't want to see that."

"On the contrary, I would _love_ to see more, if you have them," she told Mrs. Vaughn.

"Of course, dear. You'll have to come over sometime; I've got loads of these. I'm talk photo albums full," she informed her.

Gabriel was at a loss. His mother and his partner were _bonding_ over naked bathtub pictures of him during his youth.

"I should've just gone to a hospital and risked it. Never should've gone to your house to get patched up," he muttered under his breath.

"Shut up, Gabriel, it isn't _that_ embarrassing," Riley told him.

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow. "Then let's see a few of your baby photos. I'm sure you've got plenty laying around her somewhere."

She smiled false-sweetly at him. "Not a snowball's chance in hell."

He smirked. "We could always revisit the ones you took in college…" he let the sentence hang there.

Immediately, her confident smile dropped and she warned, "Gabriel…"

"Now who's got the upper hand?" he said, chuckling to himself as he noticed her glaring stare.

"Damn it, Gabriel, you know we have rules: now searching for me or any personal or professional item of mine unless it's truly necessary," she scolded.

"I thought it was necessary."

"No, you were just being an ass." She paused. "But from this photo at least we can tell that you _have_ a little cute one." It was her chance to smirk as her partner's face fell again.

"Alright, that's enough. Mom, put the photo away," he instructed. He didn't really want Riley discussing how "cute and little" his butt had been when he was younger.

Mary Vaughn had been curiously observing the two. Her eyes had followed them back and forth like a ping-pong match while they bickered. From the very first minute Riley had brought Gabriel to her to fix him up, she'd been watching them; how they behaved around each other, how they acted, how they communicated, and most importantly, how they looked at one another when the other had their back turned. Never had she seen such devotion from partners, even during her time as a Field Nurse in the Army. It truly warmed her heart to know that her youngest son was in good hands and being well looked after. Especially since it was Riley.

The woman smiled, but did as her son requested. "Fine, but that's not gonna stop me from showing her the other ones at a later date." Putting her wallet back in her purse, she stood up and announced, "Well, I'm off to bed. It's been quite a long couple days and I'm very tired."

Riley got to her feet and gave her a hug. "Good night, Mrs. Vaughn."

"Riley, how many times tonight have I told you to call me Mary?" the older woman scolded.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Good night, Mary."

Gabriel watched the interaction between his mother and Riley with interest. His mother had never liked Amelia all that much and didn't take very well to any of his ex-girlfriends, yet here she was, after only a couple days, instructing his partner to call her by her first name. Interesting, indeed.

Mrs. Vaughn then moved over to her son and wrapped him up in a tight embrace. "I'm glad you're safe, Gabriel," she told him.

"Me too, Mom. Sorry again about the kitchen," he replied.

She pulled back from the hug and shrugged. "You can just repair all the damage you caused while your girl and I look at your photo albums." Riley chuckled as his mother sent her a conspiratorial wink.

"Good night, Mom," he called after her retreating form.

"Good night, you two. Don't make too much noise in that bed of yours tonight," she teased. "An old woman needs her sleep."

"Mom, we're not—" he was cut off by the sound of his guest bedroom door slamming shut.

When he glanced over at his partner, he saw that she was currently taking an active interest in what was on the ground by her feet. She pursed her lips and looked up.

"Your mom is, uh…quite the character," she commented.

He scoffed. "Tell me about it. Another beer?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sure." Gabriel went to the fridge and pulled out two beer bottles, handing one to Riley.

"Sorry for teasing you so much," she said.

He shrugged. "After living with her for the first 18 years of your life, you kinda get somewhat used to it." He tilted the end of his beer towards her and she tapped it with her own.

"So how long are you planning on letting her live here with you?" Riley asked him after she'd taken a drink.

"Well, CyberCom's given us a few days off for recompense for all the trouble they caused us, so I was planning on fixing up her kitchen tomorrow. That is," he added, "until I found out that you would be snooping through my baby pictures while I did it, so maybe I'll hold off for another couple days. Procrastinate as much as she'll let me."

She made a sound of protest. "It wouldn't be _snooping_, Gabriel. Your mother would willingly show those to me."

The man cringed. "Just…don't let Nelson or Jameson—or even the Doc, for that matter—get a hold of any of those. I'd be the laughing stock of CyberCom."

Riley shook her head. "Lillian would have the heads of anyone responsible for that and you know it."

He laughed. "Ain't that the truth. She needs to maintain the image of her greatest intelligence asset _pristine_," he mocked bitterly.

Riley gave him a look. "Gabriel, you know Lillian cares about you, not just the chip."

"Do I?" he asked skeptically.

"Of course," she reaffirmed. "Look at the way she still maintained that you were innocent and incapable of murder, even after all the evidence pointed that you had in fact done it."

"I could name someone else that stuck by my side and went to greater lengths than she did in order to prove my innocence." Gabriel gave her a pointed look.

Riley blushed and cleared her throat. "Well, what are partners for?"

"It wasn't just that, Riley," he told her. "You went on the run with my. You basically threw away your entire career and your life to keep me safe because you believed in me."

"I told you, Gabriel. We're part—"

"Don't use that excuse anymore, Riley," he interrupted. "You and I both know that it's becoming more and more meaningless because we're not just partners….Are we?"

Riley was scared. She didn't know what to say. No matter what she said next, their friendship, their partnership, their…_whatever_, would be changed forever. They wouldn't be able to ignore it.

Finally, she said quietly, "No, we're not."

"Then what are we?" he wanted to know.

"Truthfully? I don't know," she replied, looking up at him. "Partners stand by one another and have each other's back, but we go above and beyond that. Friends don't have the loyalty and commitment to each other that we do, but…I don't know. I have no clue what we are."

"Do you have feelings for me?" Gabriel asked her after a long moment of silence. When she didn't respond, he prompted, "Riley?"

"Yes, I do. And whether or not you—"

"So do I," he said, cutting her off.

She appeared troubled. "Gabriel, we work together. We're not supposed to…date or fraternize or anything like that."

"Then we'll keep it a secret," he proposed. "We'll take it slow and just keep everything between the two of us for now. No one else needs to know."

It looked like she was halfway convinced. "And what happens if we're caught?"

Gabriel took a step closer to her. He grabbed her beer and bent over to set it down on the coffee table to his right. Straightening up, he held her hands in his. "Why don't we worry about crossing that bridge when we come to it—_if_ we come to it. But for now," he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "For now, I'd really like to kiss you."

Riley smiled deviously. "With that tiny scruff on your face? I don't know, I think I'd prefer it if you had that bubble beard—"

He rolled his eyes and yanked her forward, silencing her with his lips. Oh yeah, he didn't think they were ever _just partners_.

**A/N: I sincerely hope you like it. This was by far one of my favorites to write, especially the bonding between Riley and Gabriel's mother. Should we get a season 2 (fingers crossed) we definitely need to see more of them together because let's face it: Mary Vaughn is the biggest Riliel shipper out there. She might even have Nelson beat. Feel free to keep leaving me prompts and I'll continue to do my best in writing what you wish to see.**


	7. After

**A/N: This one is for AthensAgent47 who wanted a **_**"morning after **__**where they talk about where they're going?"**_** This is set right after Chapter 3, "Darts."**

**A/N: I apologize for not getting an update out sooner, but my wi-fi completely crashed Wednesday night and I just got it back late Thursday night. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed and thank you guys for being so encouraging and supportive. Happy reading!**

The sun shone brightly through the window, indicating the start of a new day. Lying flat on his stomach in the middle of the bed was Gabriel. His mouth hung slightly open as a small puddle of drool began to form. A noise outside the window caused the man's eyes to flutter open. Slowly, he came to his senses and rolled over onto his back. Looking over to the opposite side of the bed, he noticed a distinct lack of human presence under the bed sheets. Frowning, he raised his head (which hurt like a bitch considering the small hole he had in it from the dart Nelson threw) and surveyed the room.

Clothes were lying in various spots on the floor. The bed that he was currently in was completely messed up. It had been utterly destroyed the previous night. Pillows and sheets were strewn everywhere and clock on the end table next to his bed was now residing on the ground. It appeared to have either been pushed or kicked off the table, an accident, he was sure, whichever it was. All of these signs were evidence that pointed to an incredible night spent with a woman. But where exactly _was_ that woman?

"Riley?" Had she left before he'd woken up?

_Don't be stupid, Gabriel,_ he scolded himself. _She would've taken her clothes if she had._ But if she hadn't left, then where was she?

About to throw off the sheet in order to get out of bed and search for her, he stopped when the door to his room opened carefully.

In walked Riley, carrying two plates full of food. When she saw that he was awake and sitting up, she smiled.

"Good, you're up." She forced him to scoot back until he was resting up against the headboard. Handing him one plate, she crawled onto the mattress and sat by his legs, criss-crossing hers. "I was worried that I'd have to wake you up myself."

"What's this?" he nodded towards the plate in his hands. "Bacon, eggs, and…waffles?"

Her smile turned shy. "Yeah, I thought I'd make us some breakfast."

Gabriel was surprised to realize that he'd been so preoccupied with worrying about where Riley was that he hadn't even noticed the smell of food floating around the apartment. Especially the bacon aroma because boy, did he love his bacon.

"We kind of need food after…after last night," she added, taking a bite of her waffle.

"Last night was something else, huh?" he said with a smirk.

"It sure was…_something_," she told him after a moment.

Gabriel's face dropped. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

A panicked look spread across Riley's face. "Oh, no, no, it's not you. You did nothing wrong and I mean _nothing _wrong."

He looked confused. "Then what is it?"

She sighed. "It's just, where do we go from here? We just spent a wild and passion-filled night together and clearly both of us want to do this, but…what exactly is_ this?_"

Gabriel paused mid-bite of a strip of bacon. Breaking off a piece in his mouth, he chewed slowly, giving him enough time to compose a thoughtful answer. He had to be careful with what he said. While Riley wasn't easily scared off, he knew that discussing a new relationship after a night of fulfilling desires would leave anyone open and vulnerable. _Especially_ when the two people discussing it were partners working for a high-tech government agency.

After swallowing the bits of bacon he'd been chewing, he sighed and shrugged. "Why can't we just keep this unlabeled? Why do we have to specify what it is right now?"

"Because, Gabriel, we work together. We're going to walk into CyberCom everyday and be sent halfway across the world to some random location that needs some terrorist plot foiled. If we remain in limbo about what we are then lines become unreadable and blurred." At his expression, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, _more_ _blurred_ than they already are. I need you to be my partner, but I'm also not one of those girls that sleeps with her partner just for the hell of it."

"Well, I know _that_," he told her.

"Then you should be able to understand my reasons for not wanting this go without a label."

He thought it over. "Alright then. Tomorrow night, 8 o'clock, wear something dressy."

Now it was her turn to be on the puzzled side. "Huh?"

Setting his plate on the end table and then placing Riley's beside his, he gently pulled her over to him so that she was straddling his lap, a knee bracketing either side of his hips.

"You wanted a label, so I'll give you one. We're now going on a date tomorrow and that new fancy Italian restaurant that just opened up a couple weeks ago," he informed her.

She looked amused. "And how exactly is that a label?"

"Well, after tomorrow night, you could say that we're officially dating." He smiled at her so charmingly that she couldn't help but return the smile.

"Just like that?" she asked.

Gabriel nodded. "Just like that," he echoed. "Riley, last night wasn't just a one-time thing for me, just like it wasn't one for you. From the very first time you walked through those lab doors and went toe-to-toe with me in that little verbal sparring match we had, I've felt a spark. Last night? Last night, that spark caught fire and erupted like a friggin' volcano. We'd be fools to not even attempt to see where this could lead."

"I guess you're right," she conceded.

Her partner scoffed. "Of course I'm right. I'm always right." He smiled cockily and Riley grabbed a pillow, giving him a hard thwack dead in the face with it.

"Don't be a jackass," she advised. "You just ruined the moment."

"Anything for you, _dear_." The sarcasm and mockery were practically dripping off his tongue.

Riley made a sound of protest. "Oh God, no," she said firmly. "If we're gonna date, then let's make one thing very clear: absolutely _no_ pet names."

"And why not, baby?"

"Gabriel, I'm seri—"

"You don't like them, sweetheart?"

"Gabriel, I'm warning you."

"How about cupcake? Babe? Honey?" He smirked at her. "Sweet_cheeks_?" He firmly planted his palms on his partner's ass, watching with amusement as her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Gabriel."

"Riley," he shot back.

Reaching around behind her, Riley grasped his wrists in her hands and moved them so that she was holding them against the headboard on either side of Gabriel's face. Leaning forward so that her face was mere inches from his, she whispered, "You're gonna regret that, Gabriel. I'm gonna make you pay big time for it."

The man darted his tongue out in order to lick his suddenly dry lips. "Looking forward to it, Riley." Glancing down, he suddenly realized that this entire time, he'd never even spared her current…_outfit_…a second thought. He recognized the shirt as one of his large t-shirts. It barely skimmed below the tops of her thighs. And…well, that was it; that was pretty much all she was wearing with the exception of the pair of underwear she'd worn last night. She must've thrown them on after she'd rooted through his drawers for a shirt. And she looked _hot._

Their plates filled with food had been long forgotten. In fact, pretty much everything that wasn't Riley, Gabriel, or his bed had been forgotten about. Of course, though, something always has to ruin the moment. Just as Riley was closing what little distance remained between their lips, Gabriel's cell phone rang.

The man groaned. "Ignore it. Whoever's calling will go away soon enough."

Riley appeared torn. "What if it's important?"

"Frankly, the whole world could be burning down and I wouldn't give a rat's ass. I have you straddling me in my bed so I'm really not all that inclined to pick the phone up."

She, however, wasn't persuaded. Getting off of him, she went over to where his jeans from the night before were lying in a heap on his floor. She took his phone out of his pocket and checked the caller i.d.

"It's Nelson," she announced, tossing it to him.

Gabriel sighed and then pressed the answer button. "What do you want, Nelson?" he answered gruffly.

Riley picked up a shoe off the ground and chucked it at him. "Be nice," she mouthed sternly.

"Yes, Mom," he mouthed back.

Giving him a look, she whispered, "If you're gonna be like that, then I'm gonna take a shower. And no, you can't join me. Stay here and see what Nelson wants." Walking off, she headed into his bathroom and closed and locked the door behind her. There'd been a few sporadic times when she'd had to take a shower at her partners—like that one time when her water had been turned off for a day to fix leaky pipes—so it wasn't like she needed him to show her how to operate it. And besides, she was ex-Secret Service and current CyberCom, if she didn't know how to figure out the mechanics of a shower then all hope was lost for her.

When she stepped into the steaming water, she instantly felt relaxation and relief overcome her. As much as she loved being tangled up in Gabriel last night, she had been in desperate need of a shower in order to wash away the dried sweat. Plus, the product she'd put in her hair for her horrible date with Chip was starting to feel weird. Sighing with contentment, Riley tilted her head back and let the heated spray fall upon her.

In the other room, Gabriel was not having nearly as much enjoyment as his partner. Nelson kept apologizing profusely for the dart he'd accidently stuck in the other man's head.

"Seriously, man, I am _so_ sorry. Is there anyway I can make it up to you?" The guilt was very much present in Nelson's voice. It was the only thing that stopped Gabriel from snapping at him. He knew how awful the younger man was feeling.

"Nelson, if you want a way to make this up to me," the agent told him as he gently touched the band-aid, "then stop apologizing. It happened. No one got seriously hurt. So, I've got a tiny hole in my head now, so what? It'll heal after a few days."

Gabriel could hear the skepticism from Nelson as he said, "If you're sure. Oh, by the way, Dad wants you to come in within the next hour or so, so that he can examine the wound."

"Oh come on! Really? That dart had an inch long point and only about half of that went through my skull. Is it really necessary for all that?" he protested.

"Dad seems to think so," was the reply. "He just wants to make sure that everything's fine with you and the chip."

"But the dart didn't hit anywhere _near_ where the chip is placed."

Gabriel could practically see Nelson shrugging his shoulders. "Not my call, dude. Sorry, but Dad told Lillian what happened too and she's insisting you come in as well."

He groaned. "Fine, I'll see you then." He hit the end call button and hung up, frustrated with how worrisome and annoying his boss and his friend were being. Dropping his phone on the end table, Gabriel took a deep breath through his nose and then blew it out.

The sound of a cell phone ringing again cut through the air. Blindly, he reached for it, hit answer, and snapped, "What?"

There was silence. Then, "Gabriel?"

"Nelson? Why are you calling again?"

"I think the better question would be: why are _you_ answering _Riley's_ cell phone?"

Gabriel whipped his head over to look at the nightstand and saw his phone laying there. Riley must've laid her phone on the table at some point and he'd moronically picked it up, thinking that his was the only one there.

"Gabriel? I'm still waiting for an answer," Nelson said. "Why do you have Riley's phone with you right now and where is Riley?"

"She's, uh…she's in the shower," he finally admitted.

"And why is she using your shower when she has a perfectly good one at her own apartment?" the younger man prodded. "Gabriel…did she spend the night?" It was getting very hard for him to not tease the agent or crack jokes. When Gabriel didn't respond, Nelson gasped. "Shut up, she did! She totally stayed over your place last night!"

"Yes, but it wasn't like that," he lied. "She came back here to help me with the dart you threw in my head and then we had a few more beers. I didn't want her to have to walk back to her place alone and drunk so I let her crash here."

"Uh huh," Nelson said in that voice that basically pleaded Gabriel to give him all the sordid details.

"In the _guest_ bedroom," the man emphasized. "And when you called her phone a minute ago, it was right next to mine so I accidentally picked hers up, thinking it belonged to me."

The other end of the line was quiet for a very long moment. Then, "Whatever you say, dude. But, congrats anyway."

"Nelson," he growled.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Whether it did or didn't happen last night between you guys, everyone knows that it's inevitable one day."

That surprised the hell out of Gabriel. "Come again?"

He heard laughter. "Aw, c'mon, man, don't tell me you don't know. Literally _everyone_ can tell that something's bound to happen between you guys, it's just a matter of when."

Gabriel found himself unable to come up with a response.

"I suppose, though, it doesn't really matter. Whether you and her got together last night or not, I'm still saying congrats."

"And why's that?" he wanted to know.

"Because whatever happened—or didn't happen, again—Riley's still the best friend to you than anyone else could be. You seriously couldn't have found a better partner."

Gabriel's eyes softened as Riley walked into the bedroom, hair still damp from the shower she'd just taken. She'd also taken the liberty of throwing back on his oversized t-shirt. When she caught him staring at her, she smiled.

"I know," he said, before ending the call and beckoning Riley over to him.

**A/N: I hope you like it. I was fighting off sleep while I was writing it at two in the morning so I'm not sure how it turned out. Please let me know if there's anything else you wish to see. I'm still working on some prompts, but you can always leave me with more. I try to give you guys at least 1,500 to 2,000 words per chapter, but there are times when I'm left grasping at straws. I truly hope you don't mind if every now and then a couple chapters are shorter than some others. Thank you.**


	8. Sick

**A/N: This chapter is for a guest that asked, **_**"**__**Can you do one where Riliel is canon and Riley is sick so Gabriel has to take care of her, but she's being really stubborn about it?"**_

**A/N 2: So guess who just got a call that said she won a $10,000 scholarship for college? This girl! I'm kind of really happy about that so I hope to pass on the good feeling by giving you guys an update. Thank you once again to everyone for the reviews. They really help to bring a huge smile to my face. Enjoy!**

"Riley, are you okay?" Gabriel asked, studying his partner while she sat in a chair, waiting for Dr. Cassidy to finish with the routine checkup he was forced to undertake every month.

Taking her head out of her hands, she looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Really? 'Cause you certainly don't look like it," he told her doubtfully.

She waved him off. "Yeah really, I'm fine."

Gabriel wasn't stupid. He knew that when most women claimed they were fine, the opposite was actually the truth. To him, it looked like Riley was about to keel over onto the floor. Not that his girlfriend didn't always look beautiful, but right now looked _horrible._

"Are you sick?" he wanted to know.

She shook her head. "It's just a little head cold. Everyone gets sick, it's no big deal. I'm fine."

"You know, the more you keep saying that, the more it'll lose its meaning," he pointed out. Almost as she was inadvertently proving his reasoning, Riley violently coughed right after he spoke.

"Shut up, Gabriel," she ordered, falling silent. She propped her elbow on the arm rest and laid her side of her head on her hand. Involuntarily, her eyes drooped and eventually shut.

"Riley?"

"I'm just shutting my eyes for a moment," she hastily replied.

Letting Dr. Cassidy continue his scans and checkup, Gabriel opted to remain quiet after that. He was worried about Riley. In the two and a half years that they'd been partners and the six months that they'd been dating, he'd never known her to fall ill. Not even a small allergy in the fall or spring. Even he'd gotten the occasional cold and last year, had managed to become infected with a severe case of the flu. But Riley? She _never_ got sick.

"Alright, my boy, you are all done," Dr. Cassidy told him, breaking him out of his distracted thoughts. "Everything looks great and normal."

"Thanks, Doc," the younger man replied. Hopping down off the table he had been forced to sit upon, he grabbed his leather jacket off the chair he'd carelessly thrown it on. "Alright, Riley, let's get outta here." When he received no response, he glanced over.

Riley was still in the exact same position that he'd last seen her in, except now, her mouth hung slightly open and he could hear her struggling to take in air. Her nose must've been stuffed up. Casting a spare glance at the Doc, Gabriel walked over to her.

She was asleep.

Gently, he put his hand on her shoulder and shook her awake. "Riley, wake up. We're still at work."

With great effort, the former Secret Service agent opened her eyes that felt like they were being weighed down with bags of sand. Meeting her boyfriend's eyes, she saw a disapproving expression upon his face.

"You still gonna try to convince me that you're 'fine'?" he asked. Shaking his head, he sighed. "Come on, Riley, I'm taking you home."

"What? No, you can't," she protested weakly. "We still have work to do."

"Actually, all we had planned for today was a bunch of paperwork. Lillian hasn't had any extreme emergencies where we're needed so _you_, little lady, are going home," he replied.

The glare she sent him didn't lack any heat or scorn, even in her current state. "Call me that again, and I will break both your legs, whether I'm sick or not."

"Tell you what: I won't call you that ever again so long as you let me take you home. Deal?"

Riley was stuck. On one hand, she knew that she was too sick to be working today, but on the other, she didn't want to cave and go home. She was stronger than that.

"I'll make you chicken soup," Gabriel added.

Damn. Maybe she wasn't _that_ strong.

"Alright, fine. Deal." When Gabriel tried to help her to her feet, she brushed him off and said, "I'm sick, Gabriel, not an invalid. I think I can manage to stand up."

"Hey, Doc," Gabriel said, getting the other man's attention. "Do you think you could tell Lillian that Riley's sick so I'm taking her home?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course, of course. Go, take her."

"Thanks, Doc. And tell her that if she needs me, then call, but if it can be handled without me, that would be very much appreciated." The pair bid the older man a good-bye and then exited the lab, heading for the parking garage where their car was.

Gabriel helped Riley to climb into the passenger seat then went to sit behind the wheel. Buckling up, he drove off, keeping a wary eye on his girlfriend who was leaning heavily against the window.

Upon reaching their destination—Riley's apartment—Gabriel helped his partner into her bedroom and got out a pair of sweats for her to change into.

"I'll go get started on that soup while you get changed," he told her. "Holler if you need me to help you take off your clothes," he leered.

Rolling her eyes, Riley shoved him in the direction of her door. "Even when you're being nice, you're still being a pig."

"Can't change a man's nature, darlin'," he shrugged.

"Go make the soup," she told him disapprovingly.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before, either."

"Go," she said more firmly.

Holding up his hands in surrender, the man retreated to her kitchen and began to search through her pantry for soup. Most of their nights nowadays were spent at his place so he didn't know her place the like the back of his hand, unlike Riley who knew his. It was rare when they would come back to hers so it took him a second to locate the proper can of food.

While he waited for the soup to heat up in the pan on her stove, he went searching for some medicine. He found Nyquil in her bathroom cabinet and brought it to the kitchen where he pulled out a bottle of water from her refrigerator. Stirring the soup, he turned the stove off and let the broth sit for moment while he ferried the medicine to Riley.

Opening her bedroom door, Gabriel found her already lying in bed, the covers pulled up practically all the way over her head. Chuckling to himself he called out softly, "Riley? I brought you Nyquil."

Peering at him through one half-opened eye, she mumbled, "It's not night, though. Nyquil is for nighttime."

Shrugging, he set the bottle of water down and poured out some Nyquil in the little cup it came with, before handing it to her. "It's nighttime in Beijing right now."

"Well, this isn't Beijing," she grumbled.

"Drink," he ordered.

"Fine." Taking the cup from him, she made a face at the dark liquid. "I always hated taking medicine." Bringing the edge of the cup to her lips, she downed the entire thing in one swallow, cringing and gagging as the foul liquid went down her throat.

"Everyone hates taking medicine," he told her. "They make it taste awful so that way people aren't persuaded to drink it anymore than necessary."

"Thanks for the lesson, Dr. Gabriel. Please, tell me more," she said sarcastically.

Gabriel lifted his eyebrows in response to that. "Oooh, _Dr. _Gabriel…I could get used to that. Do you need Dr. Gabriel to give you a physical later when you're feeling better?"

"Oh my God, you're absolutely disgusting. Here I am: sick as a dog and all you can think about is kinky role playing when I'm better." She groaned. "_If_ I don't die first."

"Anyone ever tell you that you kinda turn into a big baby when you're sick?" he asked her.

"No, because usually I don't let people baby me when I'm sick."

"Then why do you let me?" Her stomach growling caused them both to look at her abdomen. "Guess I should go get that soup before your stomach eats itself…and then me." Quickly, he scurried away before she could swat at his arm.

When he came back carrying a bowl full of soup, he forced her to sit up before he would let her have the bowl. She took it and slowly inhaled, feeling relief consume her as the hot steam made her stuffiness in her nose cease. Even though she knew it was only temporary, it still felt like heaven to be able to feel the pressure go away.

Spoonful by spoonful, the soup gradually dissipated as Riley hungrily scarfed it down. She felt better after she'd eaten, but her body still ached and the tickle in her throat wouldn't go away. Neither would the heaviness on her eyelids.

Gabriel swiftly took the empty bowl from his girlfriend before she dropped it in her exhaustion. He went back to the kitchen, placed the dish in the sink, and returned to her bedroom. Seeing her lying on the mattress, eyes half-closed, made him feel nothing but sympathy towards her.

He remembered when he'd been out with the flu the year before. He had been confined to his bed for an entire week and was unable to go into CyberCom for another one after that. To tell the truth, he didn't know how they'd managed to get by without the use of the chip. Sometimes he wondered if they had become too reliant upon him.

Riley, however, had stayed by his side throughout the whole ordeal. She'd made him soup and forced him to eat it, did his laundry, kept his apartment _and_ him clean, dragging him into the bathtub and washing him when he was too weak to do it on his own.

That was even before they'd gotten together. She truly was the best partner, friend, and girlfriend that anyone could ever have. And he loved her for it. He'd come to that realization a couple months back, but hadn't told her yet. Honestly, he didn't even know what he was waiting for, just that every time he wanted to tell her, he was always interrupted. Half the time, it was mid-sentence too!

Shaking himself out of his memories, Gabriel made his way over to Riley and carefully laid down next to her.

Feeling the mattress dip from his weight, Riley rolled over and made a feeble attempt at pushing him away. "You can't. You're gonna get sick."

"If I do, then when you get better, you'll just have to take care of me like I'm doing to you." He smirked. "I can have my own Nurse Riley."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Just like I have my own Nurse Gabriel?"

"Hey! I thought it was 'Dr. Gabriel'?"

"Male nurses are always cuter than doctors," she mumbled.

"So you're admitting that I'm cute?"

"Yeah," she yawned. "But keep in mind that I'm a little high on Nyquil right now so that's always subject to change."

He scoffed. "You know you think I'm hot."

"Well, why else would I be with you?" she joked. "It's certainly not your brain that I find cute."

Gabriel put his hand over his chest in mock hurt. "I'm offended."

"You should be," she fired back.

During the silence that befell the room, Riley curled up into Gabriel's side, using his shoulder for a pillow. In her honest opinion, whether she was high on medicine or not, his body was far more comfortable than any pillow she could rest her head on.

"So you never answered my question earlier," Gabriel said, breaking the quietness between them.

"What question?" she slurred out. She was literally moments from sleep's tight grasp and her boyfriend wanted to continue talking. _Men,_ she thought, sighing internally.

"Well, you said that you never let people care for you when you're sick and then I asked why you were letting me do it."

"Oh," was all she said. Then, "You're my boyfriend, but first and foremost, you're my partner. We have to have each other's back professionally as well as personally. It also didn't help that I nearly collapsed on the walk up the stairs. Even though every bone in my aching body was screaming to not let you stay, I know when to give in and admit defeat, no matter how much I hate to do so."

He remained quiet, mulling over what she'd told him.

"Plus," she added, "I had to take care of you when you had the flu so it's only fair you do the same for me."

He laughed. "I'd do anything for you, Riley, whether or not you tell me to. Because I lo—"

Smiling, Riley snuggled closer to his body, draping a leg over his and pressing her face farther into his neck. "I know, Gabriel. Me too."

Wrapping an arm around her and letting her drift off to sleep, Gabriel smiled as well. That was one interruption that he was more than okay with.

**A/N: I really hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to keep leaving requests for what you want to see.**


	9. Surprise

**A/N: This chapter is for who wanted to see **_**"**__**a chapter where it's either Gabriel or Riley's birthday and well, they give each other a gift or a surprise."**_

**A/N 2: Thank you to those who left reviews for the last chapter. I'm sorry to if this isn't what you had in mind when you first gave me the prompt, but this is what ended up coming out. I hope you all like this!**

The day had started out great for Gabriel. Today was Riley's birthday and his morning had begun with him diving under the bed sheets and crawling in between his girlfriend's legs in order to wake her up. He had been planning on spending the entire day with her and taking her out to do all of her favorite activities. Then later that night, he was going to take her out to eat at a fancy restaurant, go for a walk in the city park, and then propose to her under the starlit sky.

He'd had all of it carefully thought out and planned for weeks and for the entirety of them, he'd been praying to whatever deity might've listening that they wouldn't be called in to CyberCom. Unfortunately, life had a funny way of screwing up your plans.

Lillian had called them and told them they were needed at CDOC immediately. He'd had to cancel the reservations and store away the ring he'd been studying when she'd called. Riley had been in the shower and had to hurry up so that Gabriel could take one before they went in. There had been chance of him showering with her after the phone call; that would only cause them to be late.

When they had arrived at CyberCom, they were informed of the situation: they were going to be flown out to Iran where their mission was to recover an American family of four that had been imprisoned. Essentially, it was almost identical to the mission where they'd had to fly to Syria, posing as former President Finnegan's Secret Service, and rescue the two American "journalists" who ended up being CIA. Except this time, Lillian was one hundred percent sure that this was a family of innocents.

"Iran wants to start a war with us," she'd told them. "At this point, they're using any feeble excuse they have in order to fan the flames and get the fire going. All this family is guilty of is being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The country's not dumb enough to torture them, but they _will_ die there if we can't reach them. Bring them home," were her instructions. Before they'd left, Lillian made sure to emphasize the "don't get caught" rule.

"If you're caught, just like with Syria a few years back, it means war. If you fail, American lives will be lost." She stared at them with a steely, no-nonsense gaze. "Don't fail."

And so, the two of them, along with a specialized tact team to act as backup, had traveled all the way to the Middle East for their rescue mission.

The pair had arrived and immediately began the operation, scoping out the place with Gabriel using the chip in order to get a look on the inside. The people back at CyberCom were aiding in any way they could, Nelson being the most helpful with his computer skills.

Surprisingly, it was very easy to sneak into the facility. They were able to successfully avoid alerting any guards of their presence. Well…there was _one_ guard, but Gabriel quickly knocked him unconscious, stealing his keys off his belt in order to free the family. Once the family had been extracted from their cell, they'd begun to make their way out of the prison, only to find their journey halted by several guards.

Having had no other option, the two partners had had to open fire on them, alerting the rest of the building that there were intruders. The six Americans had rushed outside, trying in vain to reach the SUV the CyberCom agents had driven to the prison and hidden a couple hundred feet away behind a bunch of shrubbery. As they ran across the expanse, bullets buried themselves in the ground right next to them.

And this was exactly how Gabriel found his day completely and utterly ruined. The six of them had taken cover behind a large wall and while they were shielded from the bullets raining down on them, Gabriel and Riley were unable to get a good angle and shoot back.

"Damn it, Gabriel, I don't have a clear shot," Riley informed him. "And we can't waste any bullets shooting blindly, either." Speaking into her earpiece, she said, "Lillian, where the _hell_ is our backup?! The plane isn't that far away.

"While they were on their way to come help you guys, they got a little tied up with the Iranians," Lillian told her.

"Funny, so are we," Riley laughed dryly. "Now, tell them to hurry their asses up!"

Gabriel surveyed the open area to the left of them, searching for a place that would provide decent cover, but still give them the opportunity to return fire. "There," he pointed to a large, hummer-like vehicle. "If we can get behind that then we'll be in the perfect position to see everything and pick them off."

"What about them?" Riley jerked her head to the terrified family. "We can't just abandon them?"

"Well, we can't just stay here, either. You heard Lillian: backup won't be here for a little bit. We're sitting ducks and you know it!" he replied. "Here," he took out the small gun he'd stashed away in an ankle holster. He tossed it at the man crouching next to his wife and kids. "You know how to use that?"

The man nodded.

"Good. No one should get past Riley and me, but hang onto that just in case. And stay here," he added as an afterthought. "Should anything happen to us out there, run for the SUV parked about a hundred feet away and use the GPS to get you back to the plane. The coordinates are already locked in so all you need to do is drive." Throwing the keys at the man, Gabriel turned back to Riley.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Let's light these fuckers up," he stated. "I'll cover you first."

She nodded. "Let's do this." Gabriel signaled that he was ready and she ran as fast as she possibly could to the vehicle.

Exposing himself so that he could giver her adequate cover, her partner shot at any person he saw, killing three in the process before ducking back behind the wall. Riley had made it so now it was his turn. He locked eyes with her and nodded, signaling that he was about to make a break for it.

Taking a steadying breath, Riley shouted, "Go!" before leaning out from behind the vehicle and firing at he Iranian soldiers. She'd fired seven shots and killed two men before Gabriel finally reached cover.

"Jesus Christ, what took you so long?" she asked. Glancing down at what he held in his hands, she added, "And when the hell did you get that?"

Depositing the gun on the ground, he said, "Well, that's what took me so long; I picked it up off a dead guy on the way over." He smiled, charm oozing off him.

"One day you're gonna get yourself killed," she said, rolling her eyes in the process.

"Hopefully not today, though."

"Yes," she agreed. "Hopefully not today."

"We are just too damn pretty to die," he commented.

Shooting him a look and checking how many rounds she had left in her clip, Riley said, "Alright, I spotted eight on the left and ten on the right, with more coming to back them up."

"Then let's get started, shall we?" Gabriel moved to the right, indicating that he'd take that side. "One, two, three!"

Both partners leaned out from behind safe cover, took aim, and fired. Shot after shot brought down more soldiers, but there were just too many of them. In the time that they'd begun shooting, at least a dozen more men came flooding out. Forced to duck behind the vehicle again, Riley reloaded her gun as Gabriel grabbed a hold of the rifle he'd taken off the dead Iranian. Switching it to semi-automatic, they waited for their next opportunity.

Riley hated gun fights. They seemed so back and forth with no one gaining the upper hand. It always took that one brave soul to leap out into the open and either die or kill all the others. She had always thought of gun fights as a waiting game. You had to wait to see who would either retreat or run out of ammo first. In this particular struggle, it seemed to her like it would be the latter, and _they_ would be the ones on the losing side. Unless backup got there within the next couple minutes, they were completely fucked.

"You know, this isn't exactly how I planned on spending my birthday," Riley told her partner.

He looked at her amused. "You think I wanted this either? Hell no, I had it all planned out. Spend the day together—" seizing the chance, they turned back to the fight and quickly shot off a few rounds. Coming back together, he continued. "—Reservations and then a birthday surprise. Guess that's ruined now, huh?"

"What was the surprise?" she wanted to know.

"Not telling," he teased.

"You're insufferable," she complained. Leaning over, she took aim and sent a bullet flying straight through the middle of a man's forehead. Another soldier, she ended up shooting in the crotch and then again in the chest.

"Ouch," she heard her boyfriend remark. "Remind me never to make you mad."

"Oh please, like you haven't—" she was cut off by the crack of a gunshot and a loud thud. Looking over, she spotted Gabriel lying on the ground and out in the open.

"Gabriel!" she shouted. Hurriedly, she rushed over to his side and dragged him back behind the vehicle. He had a gaping hole in his right shoulder out of which ribbons of blood flowed. It was just his luck that the bullet would hit less than an inch from the edge of his bulletproof vest.

"Gabriel, look at me," she ordered, kneeling by his side and hovering over him. All he did in response was groan.

"Damn it," she cursed. Ejecting her clip, she saw that she only had a few shots left. Remembering the rifle that Gabriel had stolen, she saw it lying several feet beyond the safety of the vehicle. There was no way she'd be able to recover it without getting shot herself.

"Lillian," she said into her earpiece. "Gabriel's down. Where the _fuck_ is our backup?!" She was in no mood to mess around and they were running out of time. She had four more bullets left and after those were used up, they were stuck.

"Lillian?!" she screamed, receiving no answer. Riley figured something must've happened to their connection.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Halfway across the world in Angel's Bluff, Virginia, the team at CyberCom were working furiously to get communication back between them and their agents.

"What happened?" Lillian demanded to know.

"I don't know," Nelson said. "Somehow we lost part of the connection. We can still hear them, but they can't hear us."

"Well, get it back," she ordered.

"I'm trying, but it's no use. We're not gonna be able to."

Lillian was ready to have a heart attack. The team she'd sent with Gabriel and Riley were en route and less than a minute away, but when you're left without ammo in the middle of a gun fight, a minute could feel like an eternity.

"Hold on, guys. Just hold on," she whispered to no one in particular.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

"This is _so_ not how I wanted to spend my birthday, Gabriel," Riley told him. His head was in her lap, her gun still in her hand at the ready for anyone who came too close to their cover. There was nothing for her to stem the flow of his blood as it kept streaming from his shoulder.

"Me either," he said. "I was gonna take you out and we were gonna have an _awesome_ night."

"You know, you never told me what that planned birthday surprise was," she reminded him.

"What's it matter? We're gonna die before backup gets here." His pessimism made her frown.

"Don't say that. And if you keep talking like that, I'll personally kill you."

Gabriel's eyelids started falling shut. He was fighting to stay awake. Riley was on the verge of panicking. "Gabriel, hey. Fight it off, okay? Stay awake for me."

"Riley," he muttered. "I don't know how much longer I can. Listen, in case I—"

"No, _you_ listen," she told him sternly. "You have been shot before. I have been shot before. Both of us have had our fair number of injuries and wounds and we've always come out fine on the other side. I am telling you this, Gabriel, not as your colleague, not as your partner, but as your girlfriend who loves you and wants to marry you: you are _not_ dying."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Back in CyberCom, the entire room fell silent. All movement was brought to a halt and all talking ceased.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Nelson asked out loud.

No one responded.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Riley. "Is it the blood loss affecting me or did you just say that you wanted to marry me?"

"Of course I want to marry you, you idiot," she said with a smile.

Her boyfriend was about to respond when a fresh wave of bullets rained down on their shelter. Riley bent over and covered his head and torso with her body, the instinctual action of protecting him going into overdrive. She could hear the Iranian soldiers advancing closer and closer. It would only be a matter of seconds before they were on them.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of tires crunching on the dirt as a giant SUV rolled onto the scene. It ground to a halt as the tact team poured out of the car, their rifles coming up to fire at the enemy. Their backup was finally there!

"Over here!" Riley yelled, waving her arm in order to get their attention.

Two men hurried over, one hoisting Gabriel onto his shoulders, the other grabbing Riley's arm and pushing her along while he continued shooting.

When they were at the safety of the car, Riley told the men, "The family we were sent to rescue, they're hiding over there." She pointed at their previous cover spot and warned, "Identify yourself first. Agent Vaughn gave the dad a gun in case someone came over to them."

One of the men said, "Agent Neal, you and Agent Vaughn will ride in this vehicle seeing as Agent Vaughn needs medical attention. I'll have two of my men escort the family back to the plane."

Riley nodded and climbed into the car, moving out of the way as the others on the tact team followed quickly behind. She knew the two men who'd gone over to the family would get them out of there. In the backseat, Gabriel was being looked at by one of the men.

As they arrived at their destination, Gabriel was carried out of the car and onto the plane. Riley stayed back and waited a grand total of ten seconds before the other SUV, carrying the American family, showed up. They abandoned the vehicles and herded the family onto the plane. As soon as they were all safely on board, the pilot started up the engine and took off.

Riley was fighting off the temptation to hover over the man that was working on Gabriel. She knew that these guys had far more medical experience than she did; after all it was a part of their required learning curriculum in case they needed to treat injuries in the field. Settling into her chair, she did all she could: wait.

The time passed painstakingly slow, but the man had finally finished after about thirty minutes or so. Immediately, she stood up and went to Gabriel's side. He was unconscious.

Not know what else to do, she simply talked. "I can't believe you thought I didn't want to marry you," she murmured. "Why else would I still be with you right now?" It was obvious that the tact team and the family they'd rescued were trying so hard to make it look like they weren't listening.

"I mean, I know this is kind of backwards—the guy's usually the one that does this—but I do. I want you to marry me, Gabriel. You keep me smiling when it all goes wrong; you keep me laughing when I'm feeling down; you keep me hopeful when everything seems hopeless. And if you were awake right now, I have no idea what you'd say. Your girlfriend asking you to marry her. Ridiculous, right?" Riley chuckled at herself then got serious. "But I'm asking. Marry me, Gabriel. Just marry me." When there was no reply she shook her head at her own foolishness. He was passed out; of course he wouldn't give her an answer. He hadn't even heard anything she'd just said.

"Yes," came a soft voice.

Riley looked sharply at the man before her. "What?"

"Yes," he repeated, opening his eyes slightly and gazing at her. "I'll marry you." The grin she gave him was so bright that it nearly blinded him.

_Well, that's one way to get engaged,_ Gabriel thought to himself. So his plans had fallen through earlier. So he'd been shot on Riley's birthday. So he hadn't been the one to propose. So what? He honestly didn't care. There was one thing he needed to clear up, though.

"You're not gonna buy me an engagement ring, right?" he asked.

"Wasn't really planning on it, so no," she replied, amusement adorning her face.

Relieved, Gabriel reached for his _fiancée's_ hand. "Good. 'Cause I already got one for you at home." At her shocked expression, he added, "What do you think your giant birthday surprise was?"

Riley shook her head in disbelief. "I guess great minds think alike then, huh?"

"Always." Then, he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him. He knew that when he woke up, his fiancée would be right there beside him.

_Guess it wasn't that bad a birthday after all,_ both partners thought at the same time.

**A/N: I really hope that you all enjoyed this. I think this was my longest chapter yet, so it took quite a bit of time to write. Thank you so much and keep the support coming in the form of reviews!**


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